Apparatus for measuring the quantity of steam, gas, air, water, or like medium flowing through a pipe



Aug. 27, 1929. p U H 1,726,463 APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE QUANTITY OFSTEAM, GAS, AIR,

WATER, 0R LIKE MEDIUM FLOWING THROUGH A PIPE Filed Feb. 29 1924 InventorM M 5m Mung Patented Aug. 27, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERICH PAUL GUIDO WUNSCI-I, OF S'IEGLITZ, NEAR BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNORT0 ASKANIA-WERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT VORMALS CENTRALWERKSTATT DESSAU UNI)CARL IBAMBERG-FRIEDENAU, OF BERLIN-FRIEDENAU, GERMANY.

AIPPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE QUANTITY OF STEAM, GAS, AIR, WATER, OR LIKEMEDIUM FLOWING THROUGH A PIPE.

Application filed February 29, 1924, Serial No. 696,104, and. in GermanyFebruary 20, 1922.

This invention relates to an improved process and apparatus forn'ieasuring the quantity of steam, gas, air, water or the like flowingthrough a pipe. The devices hitherto used for such purposes are all verycomplicated inconstruction, and the results obtained with them do notgive permanently the desired accuracy. In the present process a partialcurrent is used which however, instead of being returned to the mainpipe as hitherto usual, is conveyed into a casing where, by means ofsuitable devices, the same thermo-dynamic conditions are created aswould exist at the point where the partial current would otherwisereturn to the main pipe. The quantity or volume of steam or the likepassing into the said casing ismeasured directly or indirectly.

A construction of apparatus suitable. for carrying out the aforesaidprocess is illustrated by Way of example Figure 1 showing a sect-ion ofa device according to the invention, whilst Figure 2 illustrates theinven-.

tion diagrammatically.

The steam, gas, air, water or the like to be measured, flows through apipe (1 into which is inserted a throttling ring I). In front of, andbehind, the said throttling ring, branch pipes 0 and d are connected tothe pipe at and open into a casing 6', one on each side of a diaphragm adividing the said easing into two chambers s and t. The chamber 8 has anopening 71, which can be closed by a needle valve a connected to thediaphragm i. To the opening 72, is connected a pipe m which leads into ameasuring vessel 0. vessel 0 is a condensing vessel. In the pipe 0 isinserted a throttling ring r, the ratio between the opening in the saidring and the pipe 0 being the same as that between the opening in thethrottling ring 6 and the main pipe a.

The working of the device is as follows Owing to the throttling ring 6,the pressure in the pipe at will be say p in front of, and p behind, thesaid ring. These pressures will be transmitted through the pipes c and dto the chambers s and 25 respectively of the vessel e. As however the.chamber 8 is provided with the outlet h, the pressure- When steam is tobe measured, the v in it will fall. The diaphragm i which is affectedonly by the differences of the preschamber 8 will also be 10 Through thepipe 0 therefore a partial current will enter, the pressure of whichwill be p at the outlet from the main pipe 0 and p at the inlet into thechamber 8, exactly as if the pipe 0 were to open into the main pipe abehind the throttling ring 6 as is the case in the well known by-passpipes.

Owing to the throttling disc 1" in the pipe 0, the quantity of steamflowing through the pipe 0 will be proportional to that flowing throughthe pipe at. The quantity of steam passing through the pipe 0corresponds however to that escaping through the outlet 72-, so that thequantity flowing through the pipe a can be determined exactly by thequantity measured in the vessel 0.

When a sudden fall of pressure takes place in the pipe a behind thethrottling ring I), for instance owing to the opening of a valve of alarge steam consumption plant, a sudden fall of pressure will also takeplace in the chamber 6. Apart from the fact that the measurement at thatinstant would be come incorrect, the diaphragm i would be exposed tosuch a stress by the eigcess oi pressure in the chamber .9, that itwould break. In order to avoid such a damage to the measuring device,athrottling ring 9 of the same dimensions as those of the throttlingring r is also inserted in the pipe d so that the resistance to the flowof steam or the like through the pipe (1 will be the same as that to theflow through the pipe 0. Con sequently, in case of a sudden change ofpressure in front of, or behind, the throttling ring 6, the pressuremedium can escape from the chambers s and t, or pass into them, onlywith the same speed. The chambers are therefore emptied and filled in auniform manner, and the diaphragm cannot be exposed to serious strains;on the other hand the throttling ring 9 does not al feet the working ofthe device, as certain very small quantities of steam or gas will flowthrough the pipe d only in case of changes of pressure, and the pipe dis as a rule used only for producing the same static conditions ofpressure in the chamber 25 and behind the throttling ring b.-

Instead of providing the throttling ring 9, the pipe cl could he soshaped that the same resistance would be offered to the flow ot' thepressure medium in thepipe (Z as to the flow through the throttling ring1', for in stance the pipe d could have its diameter reduced, or itcould be made correspondingly long with a suitable number of bends,reduced portions or the like.

Figure 1 shows in section a device designed in accordance with thediagram of Figure 2 and preferably intended for measuring steam, thesame reference letters being used in this case as in Figure 2.

The pipe 0 instead of opening directly into the chamber 8, in thisconstruction opens into a chamber f formed by the two members f and fheld together by means of screws f and tightened by means of the packingring 7. In the chamber f is mounted the casing 6 consisting of twocomparatively thin plates held together by a U- shaped member 0 andcontaining the diaphragm 2'. Of the two chambers s and t which areformed by the diaphragm z in the casing e the chamber 8 is incommunication with the pipe 0 through an opening 0 and a branch 0 whichopens into the chamber f.

This branch 0 contains the throttling ring 7'. The chamber 27 isconnected directly to the steam pipe cl by the pipes d and (I? screwedtogether. The pipe d dips into thepipe at and projects over a disc 70held between the pipe (Z and the member f Between the chamber f and thepipe 03 there is a leak k, so that a very small quantity of steam canalways pass into the pipe 03, the pressure in which is lower than thatin th chamber f.

The object of this arrangement is to keep the pressure around, as Wellas the temperature of, the whole of the casing e, the same as thoseobtained in the interior of the easing 6. Owing to the balancing ofpressure,

the casing e can be made of a comparativelyv thin material andconsequently becomes a good conductor of heat, so that the steamactually passing into the chambers s and t has the same temperature asthat of the steam in the main pipe a, and no condensation takes place inthe said chambers. The steam escaping through the valve h, n is carriedaway througha pipe at and passes through the pipe m into the condensingvessel 0 Where the quantity of steam is measured.

'The casing e is carried by a sleeve 2 inserted into the member 1 andretained therein by a nut 3.. The valve body 4 extends into the sleeve2; it is screwed into a box 5 inserted in turn into said sleeve 2, therebeing, however, a packing ring 6 placed between the two boxes. The valvebody 4 carries the seat for the valve n, and onto it is screwed the tubeat which is provided at its lower end that rests ,upon the valve-body 4with a head 7, as well as with fine bores 10 which terminate into aspace 0) formed in a body 8. This body is screwed upon the sleeve 2, andtightened at its upper end by means of a stuffing box 9 with the aid ofa packing ring 10. The stufling box encompasses the tube m. Upon thebody 8 is put a hood 11 into which the tube terminates.

Owing to the arrangement described the steam issuing from the valve itacts in the manner of an injector; it can then be used for measuring thesteam consumption in every moment, additionally to the entire gasandsteam-amount. The steam jet entering the pipe m, draws air laterallythrough holes u from a chamber a and carries the same with it. Thechamber 0 is connected by a pipe w to a pressure gauge am. As thedepression produced by the escaping steam jet in the chamber 42, andaccordiugly also in the pipe to, is proportional to the escapingquantity of steam, the gauge :11 will also always indicate theinstantaneous steam consumption or, when it is a question of measuring agas current, the instantaneous gas consumption.

In order to avoid condensation of steam in the pipe to and theconsequent inaccuracies in the measuring, the said pipe is provided witha branch pipe y which is connected tl'irough a relatively largeresistance a, for instance a throttling ring with a very small area ofpassage, to the atmospheric air. Accordingly, air is constantly beingdrawn through the resistance 2 and the pipe y into the chamber '0, sothat any products of condensation or any steam contained in the pipe,are carried away by the said air current. The resistance 2 must be ofcourse so great that the leak due to it in the pipe w will affect onlyto an inconsiderable extent the accuracy of measurement of the gauge as.

In place of the aforesaid injector-like device, any other device formeasuring the instantaneous energy of flow of the partial current couldbe used.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is 1. An apparatus for measuring the quantity of steam,gas, air, water or a-like medium flowing through a pipe, containing incombination a main pipe through which the medium to be measured isflowing, a casing, a flexible member dividing said casing into twochambers, a acket fully surrounding said casing, there being an openingprovided within the wall of the casing and connecting the one of saidchambers with the interior of the jacket, a resistance within said pipe,means connecting the other chamber with the pipe at the one side of saidresistance and means connecting said jacket with the pipe at the otherside of said resistance.

2. An apparatus for measuring the quantity of steam, gas, air, water ora like medium flowing through a pipe, containing in combination a mainpipe through which the medium to be measured is flowing, a casing,a'flexible member dividing said casing into two chambers, a jacket fullysurrounding said casing, there being an opening provided Within the wallof the casing and connecting the one of said chambers with the interiorof the jacket, a resistance within said pipe, means connecting the otherchamber with the pipe at the one side of said resistance, meansconnecting said jacket with the pipe at the other side of saidresistance and a fine passage provided in the first named meansconnecting said jacket also with the pipe.

3. An apparatus for measuring the quantity of steam, gas, air, water ora like medium flowing through a pipe, containing in combination a mainpipe through which the medium to. be measured is flowing, a casing,consisting of a relatively thin metal, a flexible member dividing saideasing into two chambers, a jacket fully surrounding said casing, therebeing an opening provided within the wall of the casing and connectingthe one of said chambers with the interior of the jacket, a resistancewithin said plpe, means connecting the other chamber with the pipe atthe one side of said resistance and means connecting said jacket withthe pipe at the other side of said resistance.

4. In an apparatus for measuring the quantity of steam, gas, air, wateror a like medium flowing through a pipe, in combination a main pipethrough which the medium to be measured is flowing, a resistance withinsaid main pipe creating therein a diflerence of pressure, a casing, aflexible member dividin said casing into two chambers,

there being an exit in the one chamber, means regulated by said flexiblemember for controlling the flow thru the casing an exit means connectingsaidchamber with the main pipe at a point before said resistance andconveying a partial current of the medlum to be measured into saidcasing, a resistance within said means, the ratio be tween said lastmentioned resistance and. the said means being the same as that betweenthe resistance within the main pipe and said main pipe, a second meansconnecting the other chamber of the casing with the main pipe at a.point behind the first mentioned resistance, a jacket filled with themedium to be measured and surrounding said casing, bemg in opencommunicatlon nation a main pipe through which the medium to be measuredis flowing, a casing, a flexible member dividing said casing into twochambers, there being an exit in the one chamber, means regulated bysaid flexible member for controlling the flow thru the casing, an exitmeans connecting said chamber with the main pipe and conveying a partialcurrent of the medium to be measured into said casing, means adapted tocreate in said casing the same thermodynamic conditions as would exist,at the point where the partial current woud otherwise return to the mainpipe, said casing being made of a relatively thin metal, a jacket tilledwith the medium to be measured and surrounding said casing and meansadaptedto measure the volume or quantity of the medium passing into saidcasing.

6. An apparatus for measuring the quantity of steam, as, air, water or alike medium flowing through a pipe, containing in combination a mainpipe through which the medium to be measured is flowing, a casing, aflexible member dividing said easing into two chambers, there being anexit in the one chamber, means regulated by said flexible member forcontrolling the flow thru the casing, an exit means connecting saidchamber with the main pipe and conveying a partial current of the mediumto be measured into said casing, means adapted to create in said casingthe same thermodynamic conditions as would exist at the point where thepartial current would otherwise return to the main pipe, means adaptedto measure the volume or quantity of the medium passing into said casingand an injectorlike device, through which the partial current passesthereby producing a drop in pressure and means for measuring the valueof said drop in pressure.

7. An apparatus for measuring the quantity of steam, gas, air, water ora like medium flowing through a pipe, containingin combination a mainpipe'through which the medium to be measured is flowing, a casing, aflexible member dividing said casing into two chambers, there being anexit in the one chamber, means regulated by said flexible member forcontrolling the flow thru the casing, an exit means connecting saidchamber with the main pipe and conveying a partial current of the mediumto be measured into said casing, means adapted to create spacesurrounding it, means for measuring the value of said drop inpressureand means connecting said space with the measuring device andcontaining a small leak leading into the atmosphere.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

ERICH PAUL GUIDO Wt'INsoH.

